PRESIDENT LINCOLN.

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in its place, but living, brave, patriotic men are better than gold. [Cheers and other demonstrations of applause.]"

On the adoption of the anti-slavery amendment this speech from the Presidential Mansion, February 1, 1865:

"A question might be raised whether the proclamation was legally valid. It might be urged that it only aided those who came into our lines, and that it was inoperative as to those who did not give themselves up; or that it would have no effect upon the children of slaves born hereafter; in fact, it would be urged that it did not meet the evil. But the amendment is a king's cure-all for all the evils. [Applause.] It winds the whole thing up."

On being officially notified of his re-election :

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'Having served four years in the depths of a great and yet unended national peril, I can view this call to a second term in nowise more flattering to myself than as an expression of the public judgment that I may better finish a difficult work, in which I have labored from the first, than could any one less severely schooled to the task. In this view, and with assured reliance on that Almighty Ruler who has so graciously sustained us thus far, and with increased gratitude to the generous people for their continued confidence, I accept the renewed trust with its yet onerous and perplexing duties and responsibilities." From his second inaugural address:

"If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through his appointed time, he now wills to remove, and that he gives to both North and South this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a God always ascribe to him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty Scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continues until all the wealth piled by the bondsmen's

two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, 'The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.'

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan-to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

On the slaves fighting for the rebels, March 11, 1865:

66 There are but few aspects of this great war on which I have not already expressed my views by speaking or writing. There is one-the recent effort of 'our erring brethren,' sometimes so called, to employ the slaves in their armies. The great question with them has been, 'Will the negro fight for them?' They ought to know better than we, and doubtless do know better than we. I may incidentally remark, however, that having in my life heard many arguments—or strings of words meant to pass for arguments-intended to show that the negro ought to be a slave, that if he shall now really fight to keep himself a slave, it will be a far better argument why he should remain a slave than I have ever before heard. He, perhaps, ought to be a slave, if he desires it ardently enough to fight for it. Or if one out of four will, for his own freedom, fight to keep the other three in slavery, he ought to be a slave for his selfish meanness. I have always thought that all men should be free; but if any should be slaves, it should be first those who desire it for themselves, and secondly those who desire it for others. Whenever I hear any one arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally."

On Victory and Reconstruction, the last speech of his life, April 11, 1865 :

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"Some twelve thousand voters in the heretofore slave State of Louisiana have sworn allegiance to the Union, assumed to be the rightful political power of the State, held elections, organized a State government, adopted a free State constitution, giving the benefit of public schools equally to black and white, and empowering the Legislature to confer the elective franchise upon the colored man. Their Legislature has already voted to ratify the constitutional amendment recently passed by Congress abolishing slavery throughout the nation. These twelve thousand persons are thus fully committed to the Union and to perpetual freedom in the State; committed to the very things and nearly all the things the nation wants, and they ask the nation's recognition and its assistance to make good that committal. Now, if we reject and spurn them, we do our utmost to disorganize and disperse them. We, in effect, say to the white men, 'You are worthless, or worse; we will neither help you nor be helped by you.' To the blacks we say, 'This cup of Liberty which these, your old masters, hold to your lips, we will dash from you, and leave you to the chances of gathering the spilled and scattered contents in some vague and undefined when, where, and how.' If this course, discouraging and paralyzing both white and black, has any tendency to bring Louisiana into proper practical relations with the Union, I have, so far, been unable to perceive it. If, on the contrary, we recognize and sustain the new government of Louisiana, the converse of all this is made true.

"We encourage the hearts and nerve the arms of the twelve thousand to adhere to their work, and argue for it and proselyte for it and fight for it, and feed it and grow it and ripen it to a complete success. The colored man, too, seeing all united for him, is inspired with vigilance and energy and daring to the same end. Grant that he desires the elective franchise, will he not attain it sooner by saving the already advanced steps toward it than by running backward over them? Concede that

the new government of Louisiana is only to what it should be as the egg is to the fowl; we shall sooner have the fowl by hatching the egg than by smashing it.

"Again, if we reject Louisiana, we also reject one vote in favor of the proposed amendment to the National Constitution. To meet this proposition it has been argued that no more than three fourths of those States which have not attempted secession are necessary to validly ratify the amendment. I do not commit myself against this further than to say that such a ratification would be questionable, and sure to be persistently questioned; whilst a ratification by three fourths of all the States would be unquestioned and unquestionable.”

I think I never saw him out of temper but once, and that was when I presented him the unanimous confirmation of a certain personage for a high office. "Why did the Senate not confirm Mr. and Mr. -? My friends knew I wanted this done, and I wanted it done to-day ;" and then he used certain strong expressions against the successful person. I looked at him with some surprise, never having seen him in such a mood, and said, "Why, Mr. Lincoln, you seem to hold me responsible for the act of the Senate, when you must be aware of the custom under which that body acted." "Oh, no," was his reply; “I was not scolding you, my friend, but I fear I have been caught in a trap.

Many a fierce conflict took place in his presence between angry politicians, but it required a very strong provocation to overbalance his judgment or his equanimity. Not so, however, with an appeal for mercy; not so with a petition from the poor. Here he was as weak as woman, and more than once mingled his tears with the gentler sex.

There are few parallels to such a character, but many con trasts.

The contrast between Lincoln and Johnson may be illustrated by an incident connected with the unhappy fourth of March, 1865, when Andrew Johnson was inaugurated Vice-President

INCOHERENT VICE-PRESIDENT.

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in the Senate chamber. I do not desire to see the curtain rise before a scene that both parties seem willing to expunge—the Republicans, who apologized for it when it occurred, and the Democrats, who regretted it after Johnson joined their despairing columns. But I can never forget President Lincoln's face as he came into the Senate Chamber while Johnson was delivering his incoherent harangue. Lincoln had been detained signing the bills that had just passed the old Congress, and could not witness the regular opening of the new Senate till the ceremonies had fairly commenced. He took his seat facing the brilliant and surprised audience, and heard all that took place with unutterable sorrow. He then spoke his short inaugural from the middle portico of the Capitol, and rode quickly Bitter maledictions were immediately hurled against the new Vice-President. I hastened to his defense to the best of my abilities, believing the affair to have been an accident. Threats of impeachment were common in both parties, especially among the Democrats; and the crusade got so fierce at last that I found myself included among those who had helped Mr. Johnson to his exposure. But no voice of anger was heard from Abraham Lincoln. While nearly all censured and many threatened, Mr. Lincoln simply said, "It has been a severe lesson for Andy, but I do not think he will do it again.'

In a little more than a month, Lincoln was in his grave and Johnson his successor. Both have had their trial before the same people. The verdict on each is irreversible. What was at first a parallel has become a contrast. And this contrast grows stronger with every hour, and will stand through all time as a warning to the nations.

[September 3, 1871.]

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